The following post features student writing.
Excursion
On Thursday morning we ate an early breakfast in the village before boarding a bus to Manuel Antonio, a national park in Quepos on the Pacific coast. The differences between village life and this destination town became evident very quickly—lots of tourists, American-style foods, waiters that speak English, etc. After lunch, some luxury iced coffees, and smoothies, we headed to the beach for the afternoon. In the evening everyone filled up on pizza before discussing the disparity between village life and tourist town life. The next morning we woke up early to go sea kayaking about a mile down the coast where we hopped off the boats to snorkel around. Although the snorkleing was amazing, getting in and out of the boats proved to be quite a challenge. As we arrived to the nearby shore, the guides had fresh fruit and cookies awaiting us. Then we kayaked back to eat lunch and enjoy a relaxing afternoon at the hotel pool. In the evening we went to a restaurant called Emilios for some delicious seafood and live Cuban salsa music. (Adam was an absolute champ and ate a whole fish plus half of Sophie’s tuna.) Our last day in Manuel Antonio included a hike through the national park where we saw a plethora of monkeys, a few sloths, and lots of other wildlife. The students had a blast. We ended our excursion with one last lunch before hitting the road back home to San Jose de Rivas.
Sunday
Hola, it’s Liya and Sebi again! Sunday was a very exciting day. We started off with fresh arepas for breakfast. We then all went to Eduardo and Jessica’s house to gather together 200 trees to plant along the river. Eduardo and Jessica both expalined the value of trees and how they are a necessity for life. We began to walk along the river while each person in the group and the village kids had a different task to plant the trees and help the ecosystem.
Monday
Hola from Costa Rica! This is Connor and Emmi bringing an update on our projects. Currently, we have four main projects: a sidewalk/counter, a trail, the church, and bag-filling (the endless bag-filling). We’re close to finishing the trail; it just needs a few more stairs. When it’s done, people will be able to walk down through a little forest to a clay oven where the chefs of the village can easily cook wonderful meals. The sidewalk is also looking really good. It’s right next to the salon, our current home, and it’s in front of a place called la comida rapida. The top layer of cement has already been laid down, and we’re beginning to lay tile on the counter. That way, when they use the place for fast food, vending, events, locker rooms, or whatever else, they’ll be able to walk on dry ground and have a clean place to put things or prepare food. The church is near completion as well. We’ve been spending our time there laying tile on the floor and creating a cement walkway in front. Also in the last day or so, we have begun to spackle the outer walls. The walkway is done, and, other than the edges, the floor is tiled. Now we just have to fill in grout, the binding material we use to connect the tiles and make them look nicer, scrub off the excess grout, and we’ll be done! Last, and certainly least, our “favorite” project here is bag-filing: the endless pile of dirt we shovel into an equally endless pile of bags. A few people each day work here, and while it’s a nice break from physical labor, it can be monotonous. The village association uses these bags of dirt to plant coffee trees that are immune to a certain fungus. At the moment, most villagers with coffee fincas are very nervous about losing their coffee crop, so the association has taken on the responsibility to plant and distribute these disease-immune trees to everyone in San Jose de Rivas. Some other small projects include establishing a few little gardens, planting trees, and working with the local school to freshen a few things up before the kids go back to school. It’s time to go to work on all the projects we’ve just described, catch you later!
Tuesday
Good morning from Zach and Nora again! Our time in the village gets even more precious with every passing day and we must savor every moment. Tuesday began with work on the sidewalk and the church. Later in the day, Nina took Bryan and Nora to the hardware store to buy supplies for the mural that Sarah, Nora, Sophie, and Carlota will be spending the next few days painting. Mysteriously, they also returned from the hardware store with ice cream wrappers. A heavy rain started at lunchtime and continued into the night. Chris took a few kids to the basketball court (which is in a cage) in a car, to play some basketball with not only our group, but the village kids as well. At night, we had a conversation about being open to different cultures and being aware of perspective. We ended the day with a fun game of cards that involved most of the group!
Last Days in the Village
The students all headed out on homestays for Wednesday and Thursday nights. Everyone enjoyed their experience, and many wished they could have stayed with their family longer. It was an authentic lens into daily life in the village of San Jose de Rivas. On Thursday all of the students and a ton of village women and men came together to clean banana leaves, and make tamales all together. In the afternoon the students had the chance to work on some woodworking projects with Eduardo, a local artisan. On Friday everyone came together for a few last hours of work, finishing the grout on the church and the comida stand, cleaning up the construction sites, and planting some gardens. Then we all hiked to the home of our foreman, where they have a stocked trout pond. The students got to fish for their own lunch, and some of them even helped with cleaning the fish. In the evening the community had a huge “Despedida Party” with rice and chicken, arroz con leche, and ice cream! For the last morning in the village, we had pancakes and fruit for breakfast and one last game of soccer with all the village kids. When it time came to board the bus, almost everyone’s eyes were filled with tears.
– Nina & Chris